Knapford
Knapford is a small town or a large village with a population of 2,000 on the River Els estuary, south of Tidmouth. It is known for its farming, fishing, and fowling. Knapford is also home to the largest station on Sodor, Knapford Station, another station is located at the harbour. History Railway Series The present passenger station, Knapford Junction, is the third one built in the town, and was built in 1956 when the harbour development scheme was launched due to congestion at Tidmouth Docks. The station serves as the junction of the Main Line and Thomas' Branch Line. There is also a freight-only station at Knapford Harbour, where Percy went to sea after asking his trucks to push him past a warning board and where Bulstrode nearly drowned in a nasty accident with some stone trucks. The harbour line from Elsbridge to Knapford was opened in 1885 and used horse-pulled wagons. In 1905, A. W. Dry and Co. extended the line to Tidmouth with a road-side tramway using "Coffee Pots" engines. Although the line was destroyed by a gale three years later, the "coffee-pot" engines remained, even after the formation of the North Western Railway. In 1912, the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Railway joined with the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway and a connecting line was built from Knapford to Crosby. When the North Western Railway opened, a bay platform was opened at Knapford for the line to Elsbridge. The rundown of the lead mines at Toryreck began in 1925, but opportunities of stone traffic from Ffarquhar opened and the line to Elsbridge was extended. The lead mines closed in 1930. In 1956, the improvement scheme of the harbour at Knapford was started, the branch was rebuilt on an easier gradient and the stations were moved north of the river. The first line is now used for goods. Knapford is useful as a harbour, but not ideal, which is why the Arlesburgh branch was reopened in 1966. The Knapford station is the fourth one, built in the town in 1984. It has two platforms, a glass roof, and about eight trains a day. Several maps show the main line terminating at the junction, though some books mention that the terminus is Tidmouth. What's more, Knapford appears to be the larger than Tidmouth, whereas the Reverend W. Awdry stated in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways that it is smaller than Tidmouth. The name comes from the parish of Knapwell, where the Reverend W. Awdry was vicar. Television Series Knapford is the "big station" in the television series. It has a large canopy. The station has six tracks total, four being through tracks and two being terminal tracks. Knapford has a refreshment kiosk, the Engine Drivers locker room, M.C. BUNN and a bookstall. At one point, the bookstall was temporarily replaced by a toy shop. In Tale of the Brave, the station is given a new track layout and signal gantries were added above the lines. Trivia * Knapford has been seen in every season, except the fifth, where it was replaced with Kirk Ronan. * In Thomas and the Magic Railroad, the town beside Knapford was missing and replaced with trees. * From Tale of the Brave onwards, the tracks into Knapford station gain crossovers, and gantries similar to those seen in the first four seasons were added. These redesigns were aided in part by SiF users Simon Martin and Sean O'Connor. * In The Adventure Begins, the station gains a large shunting yard close by, complete with a coal hopper and several sheds and sidings. The station also gains signal gantries at the back of it. Merchandise * Wooden Railway (normal, "Sights and Sounds", and Talking versions) * Motor Road and Rail (discontinued outside Asia) * TrackMaster (discontinued) * Take Along (discontinued) * Take-n-Play * LEGO (discontinued) * Bandai (discontinued) * Bachmann * Wind-up (Japan only) * Departing Now * Motorized Railway Gallery File:ThomasandtheBreakdownTrainRS8.PNG|Knapford Junction (south of the river) as it first appears in Thomas the Tank Engine File:ThomasandtheGuardRS3.PNG|Henry and Thomas at the junction in Tank Engine Thomas Again File:TheFatController'sEnginesRS2.PNG|Knapford Junction located north of the river in The Eight Famous Engines File:BluebellsofEnglandRS5.png File:BetterLateThanNeverRS2.png|Henry and Thomas at the junction File:Washout!RS3.png File:ThomasandtheSwanRS3.png|Thomas with Pip and Emma at the junction File:ThomasandtheHurricane11.png File:ThomasandGordon32.png File:ThomasandGordon33.png|Henry and Gordon at Knapford File:PercyRunsAway22.png File:TroublesomeTrucks7.png|James and some trucks at Knapford File:OfftheRails9.png|Gordon and Henry at Knapford File:DowntheMine8.png File:OldIron7.png|Edward races through Knapford File:DucktakesCharge3.jpg|James, Duck and Percy at Knapford File:SavedFromScrap39.png|Thomas and Gordon at Knapford yards File:Edward'sExploit28.png File:TimeforTrouble15.png File:Thomas,PercyandthePostTrain25.png File:ThomasgetsBumped35.png File:ThomasAndStepney25.png|Knapford in Season 4 File:PaintPotsandQueens7.png|Knapford decorated for the Queen's visit File:ThomasandtheMagicRailroad4.png|Knapford in Thomas and the Magic Railroad File:ThomasandtheMagicRailroad367.png|Sir Topham Hatt's office File:TwinTrouble17.jpg|Donald and Douglas at Knapford File:It'sOnlySnow3.jpg|Knapford in the snow File:Percy'sChocolateCrunch7.png|The engines in the yard beside Knapford File:Emily'sNewCoaches23.png|Knapford in the seventh season File:BestDressedEngine39.png File:ThomasandtheFireworkDisplay45.png File:SpicAndSpan4.png File:AsGoodasGordon19.png|James and Emily in the yard beside Knapford File:PercyAndTheOilPainting52.png File:It'sGoodtobeGordon24.png|Knapford station in the tenth season File:ThomasandtheToyShop9.png|The toy shop File:ThomasandtheShootingStar19.png File:SmokeAndMirrors27.png File:ThomasAndTheBillboard1.png File:ThomasAndTheBillboard98.png File:HeaveHoThomas!60.png File:HeroOfTheRails367.png|Knapford in CGI File:TheBiggestPresentofAll24.png|Hiro's welcome party at Knapford File:Percy'sParcel33.png File:TobyandtheWhistlingWoods5.png File:JittersandJapes4.png|The road entrance at Knapford File:TobyAndBash21.png File:EdwardtheHero34.jpg|Back of Knapford Station File:EdwardtheHero38.jpg|Harold at Knapford File:FieryFlynn2.png File:DayoftheDiesels76.png File:ExpressComingThrough46.png File:PercyandtheMonsterofBrendam2.png File:KingoftheRailway80.PNG File:Scruff'sMakeover28.png File:GordonRunsDry3.png File:Thomas'Shortcut38.png File:OldReliableEdward48.png File:ThomasandtheEmergencyCable6.png|Knapford's road entrance from the air File:Spencer'sVIP91.png File:LastTrainForChristmas66.png|Knapford Junction in winter File:DuncanTheHumbug9.png File:SamsonatYourService48.png File:KnapfordInteractiveLearningSegment.png|Knapford in a Learning Segment File:Mr.Perkins(CuriousCargo)4.png|The Engine Drivers' Common Room File:KnapfordStationCGIpromo.png File:ThomasKnapfordCGIpromo.png File:Knapfordpromo.jpg File:ThomasatKnapfordpromo.png File:JamesatKnapfordCGIpromo2.jpg File:OwenBellillustration.jpg|Knapford as illustrated by Owen Bell File:KingoftheRailway(book)10.png|Knapford drawn by Tommy Stubbs File:ThomasLandUS1.jpg|Concept art of Knapford for Thomas Land USA File:ThomasLandUS3.jpg Merchandise Gallery File:WoodenDeluxeKnapfordStation.jpg|Wooden Railway File:Take-AlongKnapfordStation.jpg|Take-Along File:Take-n-PlayKnapford.jpg|Take-n-Play File:Take-n-PlayKnapfordStation.jpg File:TOMYKnapford.jpg|Motor Road and Rail File:MotorizedRailwayJamesatKnapfordStation.jpg|Motorized Railway File:LegoJamesatKnapford.jpg|LEGO File:MegaBloksAllAboardatKnapfordStation.png|Mega Bloks File:BachmannKnapfordstation.jpg|Bachmann File:Wind-upKnapfordStation.jpg|Wind-up File:DiscoverJunctionKnapfordStationPlayset.jpg|Discover junction Category:Stations Category:Inhabited areas Category:North Western Railway Category:Thomas' Branch Line Category:The Main Line Category:Landmarks